Man falls from 13th floor, lands on woman and baby; all survive!

By Anuradha Varanasi and Rane Ashish |Posted 11-Jul-2014

Nandini Pathak’s afternoon nap with her one-year-old daughter was rudely interrupted when Nagesh Pawar (35), who was working on a construction site next to their shanty in Andheri (E), came crashing through the roof

A 23-year-old woman and her one-year-old infant enjoying their afternoon siesta on Wednesday had a rude awakening – and a narrow escape – when a construction worker, falling from the 13th floor of an under-construction building, tore through the roof of their shanty and landed on the bed on which they were sleeping. Miraculously, all three survived the incident with only minor injuries.

Nandini Pathak and her daughter were sleeping in their shanty when Nagesh Pawar (left) came crashing down on them. Pic/Atul Kamble

Having completed her household chores for the day, Nandini Pathak was treating herself to a nap around 3 pm on Wednesday, when 36-year-old Nagesh Pawar came crashing down in full force, right through the roof, which cracked under his weight.

The Pathaks’ shanty suffered great damage, with the roof giving way and the bed breaking from the impact of the fall

Slipping through an iron rod placed across the roof, he flew in, landing on the bed. Pathak’s ground plus one shanty stands on Gundavali Hill in Andheri (East), adjacent to the under-construction Sai Kripa building, where Pawar was working.

Four other family members were present in the shanty, and they rushed a stunned Pathak to Cooper Hospital, where she was examined at the Out Patient Department (OPD).

The doctors treated some minor injuries and sent her back home. In the days that have passed since the incident, however, Pathak has been experiencing increasing pain, and her family is now planning another trip to the hospital with her.

“Thankfully, his weight fell on my leg and not on any other part of my body. If he had fallen directly on top of me, I wouldn’t have been here to speak today. However, I am in terrible pain now, which is keeping me up all night. My one-year-old daughter, who was sleeping right next to me, also sustained minor injuries,” said Pathak.

Meanwhile, alarmed workers from the construction site traced Pawar to the shanty that had cushioned his fall, and rushed him to Mitra Nursing Home and Eye Care in Andheri (East). A worker said, requesting anonymity: “When we saw Pawar, we assumed that he was dead. His eyes were bulging, and we couldn’t feel his breath.”

Around 5 pm, Pawar was admitted to the hospital, where doctors, much to their disbelief, discovered that he had escaped the fall largely unscathed, barring a fracture to his little finger. Speaking to mid-day, Pawar said, “I was tying some rope to bamboo and lost my balance while doing so. As I fell, I tore through the net and landed on a shanty adjacent to the building.”

Alok Pathak, a relative who lives in the same shanty, said, “I was downstairs when I heard a loud thud from our chawl. When we rushed upstairs, we found that the roof had completely given way, and a man was lying unconscious next to Nandini’s legs. Her daughter had been sleeping next to her. Luckily, they weren’t severely injured.”

Alok added, “We have suffered damages worth Rs 80,000. The bed broke and the iron rod supporting the roof is completely bent in the middle. The other workers told us that they had seen the worker fall from the 13th floor. It is a miracle he survived, because we didn’t think he would,” he added.

A doctor from Mitra Nursing Home and Eye Care “The patient underwent an X-ray which revealed that he didn’t sustain any internal injuries. Nor were any foreign bodies lodged inside after his fall. He however, fractured his little finger,” said a doctor from Mitra Nursing Home and Eye Care.